Metaphorical equivalent of Timbuktu or Outer Mongolia Does Japanese have any metaphorical equivalent to Timbuktu or Outer Mongolia (or, in the case of Australia, perhaps Woop Woop), meaning a remote or inaccessible place? Wiktionary recognises the metaphorical meaning of Timbuktu, but doesn't have a translation for that into Japanese.

I can't think of anything, because...

Japanese indeed has a certain repertoire of metonymy that makes real names represent their prominent quality, such as:

> ( is a most tactful strategist)
> ( is a greatest beauty)
> ( is a busiest downtown district)
> ( is...... you know?)

Those, however, only work in "as ... as X" method, and need a qualifier so that make it clear the mentioned one is not real X. You can much less let a proper name metaphorize an absolute notion; unlike in English, Timbuktu isn't a totally inaccessible town, Greek isn't an incomprehensible language, Xanadu isn't a utopia... In this sense, no proper name could be a real "synonym" of an idea in Japanese.

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In a comment above, @Ciaran cited an interesting word . Obviously, it's a word from an age when China and India was _literally_ the end of the world they recognized. You can't seriously say it at the present time, as it doesn't even go beyond this small circle.